MEMBERS of speed hero Donald Campbell's family are planning a fund-raising appeal to restore and house the legendary Bluebird boat.

As the team of divers who plan to bring the Bluebird out of Coniston Water continued their painstaking preparations, the Campbell family announced plans to try to secure the boat's future.

Both the family and the Bluebird Team believe the boat could be back on dry land by Easter.

As first reported by the Gazette, the world-famous boat has been relocated for the first time since Donald Campbell's fatal crash in 1967, and there are fears it could become a target for trophy-hunters.

Campbell's nephew, Donald Wales, said the family would need to be assured that everything was being done safely, the boat would not be damaged and could be stored securely, before the operation to bring it out of Coniston went ahead.

They are planning to launch a fund-raising appeal to have Bluebird fully restored, and hopefully housed, perhaps in a dedicated Campbell museum at Coniston, or in an existing museum.

The family is in the process of forming the Campbell Heritage Trust to protect the family name and property, through which the appeal would be made, Mr Wales said.

"Now that K7 has been rediscovered it's put a certain amount of urgency to get this trust up and running," he said.

Mr Wales, who said he was speaking for Donald's daughter, Gina, his widow Tonia Bern-Campbell, and his own mother, Jean, who was Donald's sister, said the boat was not only part of the national heritage, but also someone's last resting place.

He said the family would like to be there when the Bluebird was brought out, but would not attend if the event turned into a "media scrum".

"We want to pay our respects to our relation privately, rather than in the full glare of the media," he said.

"The image of the boat coming out of the water is going to be fairly graphic in itself, and that will speak volumes about the bravery of Donald Campbell, let alone the sadness that it cost him his life."

The Bluebird Team members are making extensive preparations for their task, and although the job is not technically difficult, the team has to be careful not to damage the irreplaceable boat.

Project leader Newcastle-based Bill Smith said they would be carrying out structural survey work to gauge the strength of the boat.

"We have to be absolutely certain that when we pull on it we are pulling on bits of the structure that are sound, so we don't inflict any further damage," he said.

The BBC is making a documentary in the series The Mission, recording the Bluebird Team's work.